OTTAWA – Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, will join Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais at next month’s International Institute of Communication – Canadian chapter conference.
Scheduled for November 16 -17 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, IIC Canada 2016 will bring together business and government leaders in media, communications and technology to engage on key issues affecting the future of the Canadian communications sector.
Registration is well underway and space is limited. Click here for the program agenda.
www.iic-canada.ca
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OTTAWA – CBC’s top executives were asked to defend the public broadcaster’s perceived competition with private media during a hearing of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Tuesday.
The two-hour hearing, which included about 10 minutes of demonstration of a CBC virtual reality video project, didn’t see any new announcements about what the broadcaster plans to do with the additional $150 million a year it will get in parliamentary appropriations, or the accountability plan it needs to present in exchange, but CEO Hubert Lacroix (pictured above in a Parlvu screen cap) reiterated projects that have…
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IQALUIT – Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly brought #DigiCanCon to Nunavut Wednesday, the fourth of six in-person discussions on Canada’s cultural and creative industries.
"After successful stops in Vancouver, Halifax and Toronto, I am pleased to be in Iqaluit today for our fourth in-person discussion with Canadians, including artists, creators and cultural businesses”, she said in a statement. “I know that these discussions will allow our Government to better understand the issues and expectations regarding Canadian content creation, discovery and promotion in this new environment in which we live. Together, let's be innovative and find new ways to create and promote quality…
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TORONTO – Bell Media’s The Movie Network and Channel 4 (UK) have commissioned a new political thriller to mark the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
Co-produced by Montreal’s Handel Productions and UK’s Arrow Media, Pearl Harbor: The Accused (TMN)/Pearl Harbor: The Truth (Channel 4) promises to reveal the untold story behind the failure to stop the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.
In the subsequent public outrage, Admiral Husband Kimmel, commander in chief of the Pacific fleet, was found guilty of dereliction of duty and his career was destroyed. But the documentary vows to reveal new insight into who was actually to…
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HALIFAX and TORONTO – Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly hosted the second and third of six in-person discussions on Canada’s cultural and creative industries this week in Halifax on Tuesday and in Toronto Wednesday.
Dozens of professionals from the TV, radio, film, art and printed word industries gathered to talk about Canadian Content in a Digital World, as the federal government seeks input on how best to strengthen Canadian content creation, discovery and export in a digital world and to examine our current cultural policies and laws
Canadians are encouraged to join the conversation and take part in the discussions at any…
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CALGARY – In an effort to celebrate people and organizations making a difference in the lives of Canadian youth, Shaw Communications will recognize and support 150 local charitable and community activities through 2017.
Through its Shaw Kids Investment Program (SKIP), Shaw said that it will provide grants to charitable and non-profit organizations planning heritage and cultural youth-focused events that celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial; charitable organizations planning Canada 150 initiatives that support children and youth; and organizations championed by outstanding Canadians going above and beyond to support our nation's youth.
Nominations are now being accepted here.
"Canada is more than just our home, it's…
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“Time to stop being defensive”
TORONTO – Newly designated with permanent residency status, Rogers Communications CEO Guy Laurence has some advice for the federal government as it begins the complex and difficult work of redefining Canada’s cultural policy.
Laurence spoke Wednesday at the Canadian Club in Toronto and said his adopted home faces a “once-in-a-lifetime” position to redefine its brand on a global stage and stake out a leadership position in culture.
Canada doesn’t have the gun culture of the U.S. (nor the ongoing electoral circus), has a stable economy and political infrastructure, fewer terrorism worries than other…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund and the Italian Directorate General for Cinema of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism have renewed their incentive for the co-development of documentary projects between Canadian and Italian producers.
The budget for the Canada – Italy Co-development Incentive for Documentary Projects is set at CAD $200,000, with each partner investing half of the total amount. Eligible documentary projects must be a documentary intended for theatrical release in Italy and for broadcast by an eligible Canadian broadcaster, and must involve at least one Canadian producer and one Italian producer.
The…
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OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Mélanie Joly has officially launched the consultations in to Canada’s cultural and creative industries, a process dubbed Canadian Content in a Digital World.
This consultation process follows a pre-consultation questionnaire completed by nearly 10,000 Canadians earlier this year that resulted in a discussion paper designed to guide this phase of the process. Canadians are being urged to visit the website, read about the approach and provide their suggestions “on positioning Canada's cultural sector at the heart of Canada's creative economy”, now through November 25.
Minister Joly pledged to host in-person discussions…
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Without a major regulatory change, the traditional TV industry here faces a chilling future
IF THE CRTC DOESN’T, at long last, review the 1999 New Media Exemption Order, the Canadian TV industry as we know it may well perish in the next five years, at the cost of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs – all while production of Canadian content shrivels to whatever the CBC makes.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission reached a compromise deal with the subscription TV titans in the States over the American regulator’s so-called push to “unlock the…
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